Jos Buttler fifty helps Lancashire arrest four-game shedding streak
Lancashire 181 for six (Buttler 58, Croft 40) beat Worcestershire 177 for 9 (Santner 57, Hose 42, Mitchell 3-9) by 4 wickets
England restricted overs captain Jos Buttler‘s 58 off 42 balls helped Lancashire Lightning arrest a four-game Vitality Blast shedding streak as they chased 178 to beat North Group leaders Worcestershire Rapids by 4 wickets with three balls remaining at Blackpool.
Opener Buttler posted solely his second fifty in 14 T20 innings relationship again to April when he was taking part in on the IPL, hitting 5 fours and three sixes.
But this was removed from a straightforward run chase, one thrown into doubt when Buttler and hometown hero Steven Croft, run out for 40, fell within the house of three balls within the fifteenth over because the rating fell to 114 for 4.
But New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell, a league professional at Stanley Park in 2016, obtained the Lightning dwelling with an important 33 not out off 14 balls to seal a fourth win from eight video games. He had earlier taken three for 9 from two overs of seam.
Worcestershire, who misplaced for the second time in six video games, had posted 177 for 9 with 42 off 29 balls for Adam Hose and 57 off 33 for New Zealander Mitchell Santner. The innings of Hose and Santner stood out like a sore thumb in an in any other case scratchy Worcestershire batting efficiency, with no different batter reaching 20.
They shared 59 inside six overs for the fourth wicket to advance from 65 for 3 within the ninth over after Colin de Grandhomme’s seamers had openers Brett D’Oliveira and Michael Bracewell caught at mid-on and mid-off.
This was a curious innings in so some ways on a two-paced pitch. Santner supplied two comparatively easy catches to Mitchell and Rob Jones on seven and 10, permitting him the possibility to take the lion’s share of 28 off compatriot de Grandhomme within the 18th over. That included three sixes – one pulled off a no-ball above waist peak.
Immediately both aspect of that over, Mitchell eliminated Kashif Ali, Ben Cox and Ed Pollock because the the rating fell to 173 for 7 within the nineteenth, Cox and Pollock each falling to Croft catches. The first was a stunner diving away to his left at mid-off. But Mitchell solely bowled two overs.
Santner reached a 30-ball fifty in that blitz in opposition to de Grandhomme, additionally guaranteeing his fellow all-rounder an undesirable place within the Lancashire file books with their most costly spell of two for 57 off 4 overs.
In the early phases of Lancashire’s chase, Buttler dragged Adam Finch over extensive mid-on for 4 earlier than, within the fourth over, scooping Pat Brown for six over fine-leg and easing him by means of midwicket for 4 subsequent ball.
In shifting to 19 and the Lightning rating to 30 with out loss after 4 overs, it already had a sense of a return to some form of kind for the celebrity opener following a run of 5 geese in 13 T20 innings previous to this. And that’s the way it transpired.
At the top of fifth over, Buttler’s opening companion Phil Salt chipped Dillon Pennington to mid-on earlier than Luke Wells miscued Finch excessive to square-leg within the subsequent because the rating fell to 38 for 2.
For the following few overs, Buttler and Croft struggled for momentum because the scored moved to 59 for 2 after 10 overs, 119 extra required for the hosts.
Buttler then hit back-to-back sixes off Pat Brown within the subsequent, with one other scoop on his approach to 50 off 37 balls.
Then 54 runs got here off the following 4 overs earlier than a hiccup. Buttler edged Pennington behind and Croft was run out following a mix-up with captain Liam Livingstone to make it 114 for 4 within the fifteenth over with 64 extra required.
Mitchell then hit a straight six off Santner’s left-arm spin to take the goal to 31 off 3 overs at 147 for 4.
But Livingstone (23) drilled Brown to mid-off earlier than the four-time England seamer had Tom Hartley brilliantly caught and bowled subsequent ball. At 157 for six, Lancashire wanted 21 off 14 balls.
But that focus on was decreased to 4 within the final over, with Mitchell ending it with a straight-driven boundary on the up.